Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-09-03

that it was one that few men could look on
and forget Her hair, a veritable crown OF
gold, clustered in short ringlets over her
shapely head half hiding the ivory brow, be-
meath which eyes Of deep and glorious gray
flashed out in tender majesty. / cannot at
tempt to describe her other features, only tho
mouth was most sweet, and curved like Gu
| pid's bow, and over the whole countenancc
| there shone an INDISPENSABLE look Of loving
kindness, lit up by shadow Of deli ate hui
| NOR that lay upon her face like touch of
| silver on rosy cloud. She wors no jew
els, but on her neck, arm and KNEE were the
usual torques Of gold, in this instance fash
! toned like snake and her dress was OF pure
white linen of excessive fineness, plentifully
embroidered with gold, and with the familiar
| symbols OF the sun.
| Her twin sister, Sorais, was OF different
and darker type OF beauty. Her hair was
wavy like Nylepthas, but coal black. and fell
in masses on her shoulders; her complexion
was olive, her eyes large. dark and lustrous;
| the lips were full and thought rather cruel.
| Somehow her face, quiet and even cold as It
was, gave an idea of passion in repose and
| caused one to wonder involuntarily what It's
aspect would be IL anything occurred to
| break the calm. II reminded me Of the deep
sea, that even on the bluest days never loses
| its visible stamp OF power and in its murmur-
| ing sleep is yet instinct with the spirit of the
storm. Her figure, like her sisters, was al
| most perfect in is curves and outlines. but q
| tribe more rounded, and her dress was abso
| lutely the same.
| As this lovely pair swept onward to their
respective thrones, amid the deep attentive
silence of the court, was bound to confess
to myself that they did indeed fulfill my idea
Of royalty. Royal they were IN every way
in form, in grace and queenly dignity, and In
the barbaric splendor of their attendant
pomp But methought that they needed no
guards or gold to proclaim their power and
bind the loyalty Of hayward men. glance
from those bright eyes or n smile from those
sweet lips, and while the red blood runs in the
veins of youth women such as these will never
lack subjects ready to do their biddings to the
death.
But, after all, they were women first and
queens afterward, and therefore not devoid
of curiosity. AS they passed to their seats /
saw both Of them glance swiftly In our direc-
ton l saw, too, that their eyes passed by
me, seeing nothing to charm them in the per-
son of an Insignificant and grizzled old mar
Then they looked with evident establishment
on the grim form of old Umslopogaas, who
raised his ak in salutation. Attracted next
by the splendor of Goods apparel, for a sec
ond their glance rested on him, like a hum
ming moth upon flower, then off it darted
to where Sir Henry Curtis stood, the sunlight
from a window playing upon his yellow hair
and peaked beard. and marking out the out
lines of his massive frame agaiitss the twilight
of the somewhat gloomy hall. He raised bus
n,,l thay Of ba fair W. ba n IN
and thus for the first time the goodliest man
and woman that it has ever been my lot to
zee looked one upon the other. And why it
was l know not, but / saw the swift blood
run up beneath Nyleptha's skin as the pink
Lights run up the morning sky Red grew
her fair bosom and shape'y arm, red the swan
like neck; the rounded cheeks blushed red as
the petals OF a rose and then the crimson
food sank back to whence it came, and left
her pale and trembling.
glanced at Sir Henry. He, too, had col
ored up to the eyes.
"On my wordr' thought to myself, "the
ladies have come on the stage. and now we
may look to the plot TO develop ITSELF" And
/ sighed and shook my head, knowing that
the beauty of a woman Is like the beauty OF
the lightning--a destructive thing and a cause
of desolation. BY the time that had finished
my reflections both the queens were on the
thrones, for all this had happened in about
six seconds Once more the unseen trumpets
blared out, and then the court seated itself
and Queen Sorais motioned to US to do like
wise.
Next from among the crowd, whittier he
had withdrawn, stepped forward our guide,
the old gentleman who had towed us ashore,
holding by the hand the girl whom we had
first seen and afterwards rescued from the
hippopotamus. Having made obeisance, he
proceeded to address the queens, evidently
describing to them the way and place where
we had been found. 1t was most amusing to
watch the establishment. not unmixed with
fear, reflected upon their faces as they listened
to his tale. Clearly they could not under
stand how we had reached the lake, and been
found floating on it, and were inclined TO
attribute our presence to supernatural causes.
Then the narrative proceeded, as judged
from the frequent appeals THAT our guide
made to the girl, to the point where we had
shot the hippopotami, and we at once per-
ceived that there was something very wrong
about those hippopotami, for the history was
frequently interrupted by indignant ex.
carnations from the little group Of white
robed priests, and even from the courtiers,
while the two queens listened with an amazed
expression, especially when our guide pointed
to the rifles in our hands as being the means
Of destruction And here, to make matters
CHAR, may as well explain at once that the
inhabitants of Zu-Vendis are sun worshipers,
and that for some reason or other the hippo
potamus is a sacred animal among them. Not
thae they do not kill it, because at a certain
season Of the year they slaughter thousands
which are specially preserved in large lakes
up the country-and Use their hides for armor
for soldiers; but this does not prevent them
from considering these animals as sacred to
the sun. Now, as i'll luck would have it, the
particular hippopotami we had shot were
family OF tame animals that were kept at the
mouth of the port, and daily fed by priests
whose special duty it TO attend to them.